Explore Articles

Robin Tunnicliffe has farmed for almost 20 years, growing a wide range of organic vegetables for local restaurants and farmer’s markets. She remembers that “when I first started farming, my mentor gave me a list of… Read more
Montana First Nation is located in what was once rich oil and gas country in central Alberta. But as the oil wells began to dry up, the small community was faced with the enormous challenge of finding new employment for… Read more
Today, over 80% of Canada’s population lives in cities. We know that cities will soon face increased climate change impacts, such as more frequent and intense extreme weather events.  The research series Building a… Read more
The climate determines almost everything about how we design, build, and live in our cities. The streets and sidewalks, businesses and homes, parking lots and public transit that we use every day have been created to… Read more
If you are a regular user of the Climate Atlas, then you’ve probably noticed that the climate data presented on the map and throughout the site have recently changed.
We often think about climate change as something abstract or remote. We hear scientists talking about melting ice caps, see images of drought in faraway places, or browse through news coverage of exotic weather… Read more
The Climate Atlas allows you to explore how climate change is likely to impact Canada’s agricultural sector. Hotter temperatures and changes in precipitation may introduce new risks, while a longer growing season with… Read more
The most powerful computers on Earth are used to run climate models. Scientists use these models to understand how Earth’s climate works and to make predictions about how it might change in the future.
Canada has some of the cleanest air on the planet.[1] But the truth is, many Canadians—especially in urban centres—are finding it more difficult to breathe easy. For example, instead of fresh spring air, the first day… Read more
Weather records from across Canada show that every year since 1998—that’s 20 years ago now—has been warmer than the 20th century average [1]. This means that a whole generation of Canadians has never experienced what… Read more
The Climate Atlas allow you to explore how climate change is likely to impact Canada’s urban centres. Hotter temperatures can magnify pollution problems and cause health problems, and changes in precipitation and… Read more
The Climate Atlas allows you to explore how climate change is likely to impact Canada’s vast and diverse forest ecosystems. Much hotter summers, milder winters, and changes in precipitation will likely lead to more… Read more
The Climate Atlas allows you to explore how climate change can impact your health. Hot temperatures can make pollution problems worse, lead to more dangerous heat waves, greatly increase the risk of forest fires, and… Read more
Climate and weather are intimately connected. As the climate around us changes, it will have a dramatic impact on the weather. But if we try to understand climate on the basis of how we think about weather, it’s easy to… Read more
Doug Findlater, mayor of West Kelowna, recalls seeing the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire sweep into town: “It kind of looked like a war movie, with houses blowing up all over the place,” he says. More recently,… Read more
Many of Canada’s most notorious forest pests and diseases have become household names in recent years:
Canada’s forests are some of the largest in the world. They have enormous economic, cultural, environmental, and recreational value for Canadians of all walks of life. [1]
Earth’s atmosphere is made up of many different gases, some of which are “greenhouse” gases. They are called that because they effectively act like a greenhouse or a layer of insulation for Earth: they trap heat and… Read more
Many Canadians welcome the arrival of hot summer days as respite from our long, cold winters. Understandably, we tend to think of more summer heat as a good thing. But too much heat can be dangerous.
The map shows the value for the selected climate variable or index for one of three 30-year time periods: the recent past (1976-2005), the immediate future (2021-2050) and the near future (2051-2080). Future projections… Read more
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have respectfully lived with the natural world, and have a deep connection to the land, water, and ecosystems that are central to their cultures, languages, and livelihoods.… Read more
In the past, trying to answer questions such as “how might summer temperatures in my town change in coming decades?” required a lot of technical skill and effort: climate data had to be found, selected, and downloaded;… Read more
Overview In this lesson, students will examine the impact of a high carbon scenario or “business as usual” greenhouse gas emissions on climate change variables across Canada and at a local scale. The goal is to… Read more
Overview In this lesson, students will learn the impacts that climate change has on human health. By learning how health is impacted by climate change we can better understand how to protect ourselves immediately and… Read more
When the three hottest months of the high-sun season roll around, many Canadians are used to dealing with pests - be it those pesky mosquitoes when working out in the yard or sticky ticks when walking in the forest.… Read more
More and more people around the world - particularly young people and those most affected by the impacts of climate change and related crises - are struggling to stay hopeful about the uncertain and changing future.[1]… Read more
The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people who have deep connections with the land, rivers, and lakes across the northern plains – now the area of western Canada – where the Métis Nation began to flourish in the 19th… Read more
When you think about dangerous animals, big or poisonous creatures probably come to mind. But in fact, mosquitoes are one of the most deadly animals in the world.[1] That’s because mosquitoes can transmit a range of… Read more
Wind-swept, remote, and jaw-droppingly beautiful. These are Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine. A narrow archipelago, surrounded on all sides by the unpredictable waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence, the islands are home to… Read more
Climate change is a large-scale problem, but it’s also a direct result of our collective choices and actions. That means we can make a difference. But how? We’ve been told for years to take environmental and climate… Read more
Climate change is a daunting and complex threat that can lead to distressing emotions, such as anxiety, depression, grief and hopelessness. Since climate change is a long-term threat, we must learn to cope with the… Read more
In her work as Winnipeg’s City Forester, Martha Barwinsky talks to a lot of people about trees. “People love trees,” she laughs, saying that many people tell her “cool stories about trees: they remember this tree, and… Read more
“I don’t think any of us ever thought we’d use the words ‘heat wave’ and ‘Vancouver’ in the same sentence”, says Vancouver city counselor Andrea Reimer, “but now it’s something we not only have to expect but that we’re… Read more
For decades Inuit have been leading the conversation on climate change in Canada. Inuit writer and advocate Siila Watt-Cloutier has been at the helm of this work. “As Inuit, we rely on the cold, the ice, the snow. That… Read more
With summer temperatures starting to soar, many Canadians are eager to visit our favourite local beaches to break the heat. In many parts of the country, this means a trip to the nearest lake or river. Climate change… Read more
Earth’s climate has changed many times and many ways. We know a lot about the natural causes and effects of ancient climate change, and this knowledge helps us state with confidence that modern climate change is a… Read more
In August 2018, British Columbia declared a provincial state of emergency due to forest fires. At its peak, there were over 560 wildfires burning in the province. The smoke from the fires travelled thousands of… Read more
Wildfires are becoming increasingly frequent and intense in Canadian summers.[1] In 2018, British Columbia saw its worst fire season in history, burning 1.3 million hectares of land.[2] This was just two years after… Read more